


when i kiss you, i can taste the universe

by burrsir



Series: Shalluratt Week 2017 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura's cheek marks glow when she blushes, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Shalluratt Week 2017, Space Metaphors, because apparently everything i write ends in snuggle piles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 10:11:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10435383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burrsir/pseuds/burrsir
Summary: First kisses, and finding each other among the cosmos.Or; everyone's first kisses with each otherFor Shalluratt Week 2017Day Three:angst/fluff





	

**Author's Note:**

> My (late) entry for day three!
> 
> Not beta read, all mistakes are my own. I really love commas, apparently.

__

#### 

_Shiro & Matt_

“Shiro, can you believe it? We’re actually going to _be_ out there!” Matt was gesturing wildly toward the window in Shiro’s room at the Garrison, which was at the perfect angle to offer them a clear and unobstructed view of the night sky from where they sat on Shiro’s bed.

Shiro smiled, though it was more at Matt’s enthusiasm than their upcoming mission. “It is pretty exciting.”

“That’s it? That’s all you’re giving me to work with? ‘Pretty exciting’?” He gave Shiro’s shoulder a playful shove. “We’re getting to go into _space_! All the way to Kerberos, farther than anybody’s ever gone. We’re going to make history!”

“Well, when you put it that way--”

“We’re going to be in the history books! Kids are going to have to learn about us and take tests that have our names on them, Shiro.” He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his shins, resting his chin on his knees. His voice had dropped, and in a tone so soft Shiro could barely hear him, continued. “Do you ever just, think about how much else is out there? Space is so… fast and endless, and unexplored. And we’re just this tiny little speck, you know? We’re so small and insignificant. But isn’t that the most amazing part? Like, in the grand scheme of things, we’re almost _nothing_ , yet, we still get to be a part of this huge, never ending universe.” He flopped to the side, his head against Shiro’s shoulder. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

Matt’s gaze was still out amongst the stars, but Shiro had given up all pretense of stargazing and was staring at his best friend. In the years they’d known each other, trained together, and grown close, Shiro had become more fond of Matt than he ever thought he could be for a person. He had a sort of infectious enthusiasm that drew people in, and Shiro had been one of them. For all his excitement, though, Matt was ultimately rather shy, and only let a few select people close to him. Those people were the ones who got to see him like this, where the layers that ran deeper than just enthusiasm were bared.

Matt got hyped up over a lot of things, but this Matt - this Matt that was pure and unbridled awe, this Matt that adored the universe and wanted to touch the cosmos - that was reserved only for Shiro.

He looked down at Matt, where his cheek was pressed against his shoulder, and he felt that wispy sort of feeling in his chest. It started there and swirled up through his cheeks, spreading a familiar warmth there, and settled down in the pit of his stomach, where it fluttered and lingered and bubbled into something more like longing. If he tilted his head forward just right, he’d be able to see the stars reflecting in Matt’s eyes. He knew just from the way he stared out the window how he pined for those stars. It was a feeling Shiro had come to relate to all too well, even if his subject was different.

So he did just that. Shiro tilted his head forward, eager for that raw and open expression Matt offered. He caught that glint, the one that held a thousand galaxies in just one pair of soft brown eyes, before Matt’s gaze flitted away from the stars and met Shiro’s.

“Yeah,” Shiro said, “it is pretty amazing.” He could feel that bubbling feeling from his stomach cracking through his voice, could feel the way it crawled up his throat and begged him to say things he knew he never could.

Matt’s gaze was searching his, seeking something out like he did when he was searching for patterns among distant stars. His brows drew together a miniscule amount, then Shiro could see his entire expression change. It was like the air had been knocked out of him, and then suddenly something lit up in his eyes, something Shiro had only seen directed at the vast reaches of space and never at himself.

In a voice so small Shiro could have thought he only imagined it, Matt told him, “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more.”

Shiro didn’t think they were talking about the stars anymore.

Neither of them knew which one had moved first, only that soon there was a gentle, shy brushing of lips, nervous but eager at the same time. They pulled away then, just for a moment, to meet each other's’ eyes like a confirmation, before pressing closer again. Matt’s hand came up to rest on Shiro’s cheek, fingertips grazing the edges of his hairline. Their second kiss was more firm, more sure of what they were doing and what they meant, but no less gentle.

Shiro felt something warm settle inside him then, something right and pure and good. He knew then and there that he would explore every planet, into the furthest reaches of the cosmos with Matt, just so he could prove that no star shined brighter than the ones in his eyes.

\---

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#### 

_Shiro & Allura_

Allura had admired Shiro from the moment she first laid eyes on him. His quintessence, his very being, shone in a way she had never seen before. Though he’d faced more horrors than any person should ever have to experience, and though she knew he still ached from everything he’d lost and everything he’d suffered, he still carried himself in a way that radiated composure and strength. 

And yet, she’d seen him in his soft moments. The ones where he let himself cut loose and laugh to where she could see his whole chest heaving, or the ones where he’d brush the younger paladins’ hair out of their faces and tuck a blanket around them when they fell asleep on the couch, or the ones where she’d catch him gazing wistfully out at the stars like he could understand their mysteries.

That, she thinks, is what caught her. Shiro was a man whose feelings concentrated inside him like a budding star. He usually kept things tight, controlled, collapsed in on himself. But when he opened up a part of him, he exploded into light so brilliant Allura would almost have to look away.

One day, Allura found him stargazing. It was late by Castle time, and she’d only gotten up to get a glass of water when she found him. He was alone, a single blanket draped loosely over his shoulders for warmth. He had one knee pulled up to his chest, where he rested one arm across it. His eyes were out towards the stars, and had such a faraway look in them that Allura wondered if he was really stargazing or just thinking. Logically, she knew she shouldn’t disturb him, but there was something about that radiant energy he gave off that had her moving toward him before she realized it.

“Shiro,” she said, her voice soft so as not to startle him.

He blinked, and his gaze pulled back from wherever it had been moments before. He looked up at her, and she felt a warmth wash over her. “Hello, Princess. I was just, um, watching the stars.” He inclined his head toward the large observation window.

“May I join you?”

He didn’t answer, but held the blanket out for her to join him under. She did, sitting down and pressing herself close enough to him so that they were shoulder to shoulder, and the blanket could fit around both of them.

“What do you think about when you’re out here?” She asked him, her voice still soft even though there was no one around to disturb.

He shot her a confused look.

“I’ve seen you come out here before and watch the stars,” she clarified, “but I don’t think you’re simply admiring their beauty. You use it as a chance to think about things, yes?” When he didn’t immediately respond, her eyebrows knit together, “Oh, I didn’t mean to cross a line. I apologize--”

“No, you’re fine,” he reassured. “It’s just, being out here, watching the stars, it reminds me of someone. Someone very important to me. I guess I don’t think about him, per say, I just, kind of…”

“Feel him?”

“Yeah. I feel closer to him, I guess. It reminds me of what it felt like to be around him, to be with him. It makes me think-- no, it sounds stupid to say, I won’t--”

“It’s okay, say it. I won’t think it’s stupid.” She smiled at him, and tried to push as much reassuring and comforting energy into it as she could.

She could see a blush rising in his cheeks, and he cast his eyes down shyly. “I don’t know, I guess, when I’m out here, and it reminds me so much of him, it makes me feel like I’ll see him again, that I’ll get him back. It’s not just that I associate him with the stars, but that I can almost feel them drawing us back together, every so slightly.” He peeked sheepishly at her through his lashes. “That probably doesn’t make any sense.”

“It made perfect sense to me,” she said, bumping shoulders with him. “He clearly means a lot to you, and when two people are that intertwined with each other, their energies can call out to each other like that. It’s an incredible thing, really.” Part of her longed to tell him how she felt that same longing, that same pull, towards him, but now was not the time.

“He does mean a lot to me,” Shiro’s gaze had settled out into the stars again. “You do too, you know.”

She tried to ignore the way her heart seemed to pump a little harder in her chest. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” a beat of silence, “Once I find him again, I want to… sort things out, I guess. Not that we haven’t talked about it, but just… I need to see him again. I need to make sure he’s safe and happy and okay before I start moving forward with something else.” He turned to meet her eyes, and Allura could see that small baby star in them, collapsed, but the beginning specks of light shining through like it’s ready to burst into existence.

“I understand, and I think you’re doing the right thing,” she told him. She felt like she had an entire galaxy swirling inside her.

He leaned in, then, so their noses brushed. Ever so slowly, he closed the remaining space between them in a delicate touch of their lips. It was barely more than that, no more than feeling and emotion passed between them. “A promise,” he said, pulling away and settling back to stare at the passing stars. A promise of the future, when the swirling chaos of the nebulas had settled and were ready bring new light to the universe. She felt that promise settle in her chest, like a star about to be born.

\---

__

#### 

_Matt & Allura_

Things between Matt and Allura did not come easily.

They met in the middle of a shootout between Team Voltron, the Rebel forces, and a Galran battalion. Matt wasn’t sure what had drawn them both to hide behind this same rock, but he didn’t question it. He didn’t have the time. Besides, she didn’t have a long range weapon like he did, so she was as good as dead if he hadn’t jumped in beside her. Her chest was heaving, and she had a major gash in her left arm. He didn’t mind letting her catch her breath while he offered cover fire.

“You look familiar,” she said, suddenly.

“No disrespect, miss, but I don’t think this is really the place for that.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” she said. She picked up her staff, then, and hefted it in her hands. He wasn’t sure what she could do with that at this range, but the steely look in her eyes told him not to question it. “Give me their locations.” Her voice had taken a commanding edge to it, and Matt didn’t know what to make of it.

He scanned the battlefield through the scope of his rifle. “There’s one on your five o’clock-- wait, nope, sorry. Got ‘em. There is one on your seven, though.”

There was a beat before her response came. “Got it.” Then, she slammed her staff into the ground and used the momentum to swing herself up and around, where her hand shot out in front of her and a blast of bright energy flew across the field and slammed into a Galran sentry. It didn’t stop there, though, as the energy jumped from sentry to sentry, zapping each of them lifeless before moving on to the next. Her one blow had taken out nearly a dozen of them, while Matt could only watch in awe.

Her legs seemed shaky, and she was leaning heavily onto her staff, but she gleamed before him with a raw power he had never seen before, like a sun before a solar flare. He felt drawn to her, then, and felt something inside him tug like a gravitational pull. Now was not the time, he reminded himself. He could talk to her after they’d taken out the Galra.

Of course, once that was accomplished and the Rebel forces had reconvened with Team Voltron, he’d learned that he knew nearly half their team. He’d pulled Katie - no, Pidge, she went by Pidge now - close to him as soon as he saw her, and didn’t let go until his arms began to ache. There were a few brief words between him and Keith, and then he saw him. Shiro. He felt something inside him burst, like a new solar system had erupted into life in his chest. He threw his arms around Shiro’s neck as Shiro’s went to his waist. He pressed his face into the juncture between Shiro’s shoulder and neck, and felt tiny featherlight kisses pressed repeatedly along his throat.

He didn’t even stop to think about leaving the Rebels and joining Team Voltron. He handed over the equipment they wanted, shook his former Commander’s hand, and boarded the Castle without even a pause to look back.

While he had wanted to get to know Allura - which he had learned the magical woman’s name was - she seemed strangely distant from him after that. She was kind enough and never turned him away when he approached her, but there was something about her that seemed careful and guarded around him.

The answer came to him one night while he and Shiro had been in bed. They had been there in the stillness, holding each other and simply enjoying the closeness, when Shiro spoke up.

“So, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.” Matt nudged him to continue. “Um, do you remember, back before Kerberos, when we first started… this… and we had that talk about, um, the potential for multiple partners?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Matt said.

Shiro swallowed. “Well, I wanted to bring that up again.”

“This is about Allura, isn’t it?” Matt hated to interrupt, but he had a feeling that Shiro was going to continue to beat around the bush.

Shiro nodded, and got a fond look in his eye that was so similar to the one he usually gave Matt. Different, but similar.

“I’m okay with that,” he said, pouring as much sincerity into the words as he could, worried Shiro would second guess him. “She seems really amazing, Shiro. I’m happy for you.” He leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“She really is. She’s been really cool about this,” he gestured between him and Matt, “so far, too. I think you’ll really like her. Maybe even…?”

“We’ll see,” Matt said. “I barely know her, after all. Give it some time.”

Over the next few weeks, Matt was spending more and more time with her, and not all of it with Shiro. He helped her out on the bridge while the Paladins ran through training exercises and even combat missions. He asked her to help him study up on ancient Altean culture and sciences, and he found he loved watching the way her face seemed to radiate light when she started talking about her home planet. He made whatever excuses he could to spend more and more time with her, just to give himself a chance to bask in that light a little bit longer.

About two months into their joint relationship with Shiro, he ran into her on the training deck. She was the only one there, which was unusual. Her hair was up in a bun, and she was dressed in her combat suit rather than one of her dresses. She was leaning against her staff, and from the way she was panting, he assumed she must have just finished a round against the gladiator.

“Matt?” she called, looking up to see him standing in the doorway. “What are you doing here?”

“I was actually, um,” he rubbed at the back of his neck, just below where he’d tied his hair back. “I was wondering if you could teach me some hand to hand combat stuff? I mean, I’m pretty good with a gun, but if it ever came to it, I need to be able to fight without one, you know?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea!” She put her staff up on a rack on one wall, then came and stood before him. She settled herself into a stance, then motioned for him to copy. “Ready?” she asked. He nodded. Then, in a flash of light, she swept his feet out from under him.

As he lay sprawled on his back, she leaned over him. Her eyes were a blindingly bright blue, he realized. Like the brightest of stars. “Again?” he ventured. She nodded, a smirk on her face, and pulled him to his feet. 

“Again.”

In time, Matt caught on, and even proved to be able to put up a decent fight. He and Allura fell into a rhythm with each other, throwing punches and raising blocks in near perfect synchronization. Matt felt his attention hone in on Allura, until she was the only thing he could see. The room around him was forgotten as he was pulled in by her gravity. Her nose was scrunched and her jaw set firm, the perfect picture of raw power, a figurative solar flare so brilliant he could feel himself being overcome.

Eventually, a misstep had him flat on his back again. When Allura leaned over him, her hand extended to pull him to his feet, he found himself unable to move. Her eyes were _so_ bright, he thought, and the proud smile on her face sent a warmth coursing through his veins that he could only liken to sunlight.

“That was fantastic, Matt,” she said. “You picked it up quicker than I imagined you would.”

“Thanks,” he took her offered hand and was pulled to his feet. “I’m beat, though. Water break?”

She nodded, and the two of them moved over toward the bench against the wall. They sat down beside each other, slowly taking sips of water as their breathing slowed to a normal pace. Matt snuck a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Her features seemed softer, now that they were no longer sparring. He could see why Shiro liked her so much.

“You were, uh, really great out there,” he said, shaking himself out of his stupor only to immediately want to slap his face at how ridiculous it sounded. “You… fight… good.” _Really, Matt?_

Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but he swore the marks on her cheeks were glowing faintly. “Very smooth,” she scooched closer to him on the bench to bump his shoulder with hers. “And thank you, you were too.”

Matt was trying to compose his thoughts into something a bit less chaotic and a bit more coherent. His shoulder felt like it was searing where Allura had bumped him. “I… um…”

“Matt,” Allura’s voice was gentle, and his mind honed in on it. “May I… just, let me know if I’m reading this wrong.” She turned toward him, their gazes locked together in some sort of mutual orbit. She placed a hand on his shoulder, then moved it to his cheek instead. She began to lean in, her eyes searching Matt’s for any hesitation or distaste. He met her halfway.

He felt like he was staring directly at the sun, even though his eyes were closed. He felt a warmth thread its way through him, like he was stepping out of the shadows and into the daylight. Their kiss was short, chaste and tentative. When they pulled back, Matt thought there were little sunspots dotting his vision. Allura’s cheek marks were definitely glowing.

That pull, that tugging toward her he’d felt before, was somehow both sated and stronger than before. Allura was radiant, giving off a light unlike anything he’d ever seen, not in any star he’d passed in his years among the cosmos. And he’d be more than content to let himself fall into her orbit.

\---

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#### 

_+bonus cuddles_

While the original idea had been to spend the night in Shiro’s bed, it simply had been too small for three people. They ended up in Allura’s bedroom instead, since hers was much larger, and fit for royalty.

“Allura, I cannot believe you’ve been holding out on me like this,” Shiro teased. “This mattress is going to do _wonders_ for my aching joints.” He was sprawled out on his back, Matt and Allura snuggled against his chest, their hands intertwined over his torso.

Matt snorted. “‘Aching joints’ he says. You sound like an old man.”

“What can I say, spending a year as a gladiator and another year and a half as a defender of the universe ages a guy.”

“You’re still dramatic,” Matt used his free hand to poke Shiro in the side of the head. “Allura, back me up on this.”

“He does have a point,” she said.

“I can’t believe it! Ganging up on a senior citizen,” Shiro shook his head at them.

There were small, scattered laughs between them. Allura snuggled closer to Shiro, and pulled Matt’s arm toward her. “Mm, okay, sleep now. There’ll be plenty of time to make fun of Shiro in the morning.”

Matt opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a yawn. “Agreed.” He leaned up and pecked Shiro on the lips, then leaned over him to kiss Allura too. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Shiro echoed, then gave Allura a peck as well.

The three of them stayed like that, nestled warmly together, in their own little piece of the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be honest, I'm still struggling a little bit with Matt and Allura's dynamic sans Shiro, so if anyone has any commentary I'd love to hear it!
> 
> Kudos and comments are very appreciated!
> 
> Come yell at me about the space dweebs on tumblr:  
> [main](http://theryanreynoldspamphlet.tumblr.com) | [voltron blog](http://cinnamonrollshiro.tumblr.com)


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